World Bank should go with Wolfowitz

 Accountability, Corporate agenda, Democracy, Development issues, Global justice movement, Human rights, IMF/World Bank, Iraq, Latin America, Marginalised groups, Militarism, Neo-liberal economics, Poverty  No Responses »
May 222007
 

So Wolfowitz goes without being held accountable for his criminal scheming against Iraq. After I wrote the piece below, an academic friend told me, “Although he did have to step down, it was hardly a fall — guy walks away with that statement about acting in good faith, plus a golden hand-shake of a year’s salary. The girlfriend gets to keep her pay increase and the pension of USD100k.” Well, he has a point. Still, Wolfowitz’s gone, with his reputation in tatters. And, as an Indonesian activist told me when I was writing this piece, now that Wolfowitz is stepping down, it is time for people around the world to realise that the World Bank’s role is over. ”We must learn from Hugo Chavez that there is no development and democracy with the World Bank,” he stressed. ”I hope it’s not just Wolfowitz stepping down from the World Bank, but [Read more]

Makeover for predatory IMF and World Bank

 Corporate agenda, Global justice movement, IMF/World Bank, Latin America, Neo-liberal economics, United States  No Responses »
Mar 092007
 

While attending the Annual Meetings of the Boards of Governors of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank in Singapore, I soon realised that a slick makeover job, a real PR job, was underway. In recent years, these two global financial institutions have received some bad press for the tremendous damage their policies have had on developing nations. The PR job required a range of sweeping cosmetic measures. But could such measures really save the Bank and the IMF from their serious image and credibility crisis? No way. This is the review I wrote for Inter Press Service after the Annual Meetings were over. ‘There’s no doubt in my mind that the Fund and Bank cannot be reconstructed,” said Glasgow-based political scientist and author John Hilley, who has written about neo-liberal militarism, the Fund and the Bank, in e-mailed comments to IPS. ‘‘Both need to be replaced by bodies [Read more]

Beware the ‘reformers’ in sheep’s clothing

 IMF/World Bank, Neo-liberal economics, Poverty  3 Responses »
Mar 052007
 

When I attended the Annual Meetings of the Boards of Governors of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund in Singapore, one thing I quickly realised was how even language – the common everyday words we are familiar with – could be hijacked by Big Business to mask ulterior motives. Sugar-coated, benevolent words are used to disguise the mercenary goals of major transnational corporations. Beware especially when they start talking about “reforms”. Always ask, “reforms” in whose favour: Big Business or the ordinary people? There’s a world of difference between the two. This is an excerpt from a piece I wrote for the Herald in Malaysia last September: The eeriness of it all reminded me of Orwell’s “1984” and Big Brother. What struck me most was the ‘doublespeak’ used throughout the annual meetings to hijack ordinary words to serve the hidden agenda of neo-liberal policies. Thus, there was much [Read more]

World Bank profits from poor nations

 IMF/World Bank, Neo-liberal economics, Poverty  No Responses »
Feb 282007
 

When people think of the World Bank, the image they often see in their minds is one of a global financial institution that provides loans to developing nations to raise their standard of living. That is basically the picture that the Bank’s PR people would like you to see. The reality is quite different. The World Bank actually profits from poorer countries in terms of net cashflow going into the Bank. When Inter Press Service asked me to cover the proceedings of the meetings of the Boards of Governors of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund in Singapore late last year, I jumped at the chance. It was a rare opportunity to enter the “lions’ den”, so to speak, and see first-hand how the movers and shakers of the global financial architecture operate. What struck me most was the air of Big Brother all around the impressive Suntec [Read more]

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